Author: W4MP Editor

The State Apartments of Speaker’s House tour

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During this fully guided tour, you will visit the State Apartments of Speaker’s House, the rarely seen part of the Palace of Westminster where the Speaker conducts official business and resides. You will discover the history and traditions of the role of the Speaker and see the magnificent artworks on display, including a unique set of 46 portraits of Speakers through the years, dating back to the 16th Century.

For full details please visit: https://ukparliament.seetickets.com/timeslot/the-state-apartments-of-speaker-s-house-tour

Ukraine: Home Office walk-in surgery

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There is be a dedicated walk-in surgery for MPs and caseworkers in the Customer Hub in Portcullis House, run by the Home Office. It is open from 10am to 5pm.

*please note that the surgery will not operate on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 July 2022*

Officials will be available to provide advice on the Ukrainian refugee situation and answer questions on the government’s package of measures.

This will give Members the opportunity to raise cases of concern directly with officials who will look to support you and your constituents.

Housing Casework Forum – 21 July 2022

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The Library, in conjunction with the Members’ Services Team, is pleased to invite you to the Casework Discussion Forum which will take place virtually each month.

The next session is taking place on Thursday 21 July, 2-3pm and will be a Q&A session on the topic of Housing. It will be led by Wendy Wilson from the Library.

The Forum will be complemented by a dedicated Teams chat which will allow you to share ideas and best practice, as well as support being on hand from the Library should specialist knowledge be required.

(Please note, you do not have to be a Caseworker to attend these sessions, they are open to any Members’ staff who handle casework.)

If you have any questions, please contact MST@parliament.uk

To book, please visit ACT: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=5177

Casework forum

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The Commons Library, in conjunction with the Members’ Services Team, are pleased to announce a new series of talks on research, casework and policy to take place virtually each month.

The talks will cover a different topic each session as decided by Members’ staff, and the first event will be taking place Wednesday 22 June, 9.30 – 10.30am. You can book your place on ACT.

They will also be complemented by a dedicated Teams chat which will allow you to share ideas and best practice, as well as support being on hand from the Library should specialist knowledge be required.

Please note, you do not have to be a Caseworker to attend these sessions, they are open to any Members’ staff who handle casework. If you have any questions, please contact MST@parliament.uk

Parliamentary Netball Team

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A message from Caroline Dinenage MP:

Some of you may recall back in the dim, distant past of 2011, I ran a ‘Back to Netball’ course in partnership with England Netball for people working in Parliament.

Recently, prompted by a few enquiries from Members and staffers alike, I met with England Netball to discuss rebooting the programme. So this email is really about trying to get a feel for the level of interest.

The initial plan is to have a 10-12 week ‘Back to Netball’ plan of active coaching, ball-work and match play – ideally before work on a Tuesday or Wednesday. It doesn’t matter if you are a keen ‘net baller’, if you haven’t played since school, or ever! It will be for all ages, skill levels and finesses (trust me!!)

If there’s sufficient interest and enthusiasm, we could then look at setting up as an actual Parliament team, with a view to playing a few games and maybe even entering into a local league.

If you wish to take part, please email Caroline Dinenage.

Best Practice Guide on Whistleblowing – Guidance for MPs as Employers

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Following the recent publication of the Best Practice Guide on Whistleblowing (guidance for MPs as employers). The Members’ HR Team would like to invite you to join them for one of the upcoming familiarisation sessions that will provide information that sets out the way in which employees may raise a whistleblowing concern and how those concerns should be addressed.

The session will cover:

  • What is considered as a whistleblowing concern
  • How a whistleblowing disclosure is raised
  • The legal protection and requirements under whistleblowing law
  • The practical steps that should be taken to ensure a fair and thorough investigation

30 June, 9.30am https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=5192

28 July, 9.30am https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=5193

Mailbox Full?

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Your mailboxes have a maximum size limit of 80gb. If you go over this, then you will no longer be able to receive incoming messages and the senders will get bounce messages.

To prevent this from happening, PDS is asking MPs and their staff to either delete or archive old messages. If you choose to archive them, then they will still be accessible to you; the archive size is unlimited.

To see how much of your mailbox you have used, right-click on your inbox folder and select ‘properties.

When the properties box appears, click on ‘folder size’ and then wait a few moments to calculate it. Look at the total size including subfolders and divide it by 1,000,000 to get the size in gb.

Even if you are not nearing the 80gb limit, it is good practice to delete unwanted emails or archive older ones that you may wish to refer to in future – it makes searching your inbox quicker, and archived emails take up less space. If you get into the habit of regular housekeeping – deleting or archiving emails as you go along – it makes your inbox much easier to manage, so go on, give it a go!

Falklands Forty Schools Competition

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To mark the 40th Anniversary of the Falklands Conflict, students are invited to submit essays or stories, posters, podcasts, or short films.

Competition entries are welcomed from students of all backgrounds from across the UK. The winners have the opportunity to visit the Falklands in an all-expenses paid trip.

Please see here for full details: https://www.falklands40comp.co.uk/